Bobby Ba﻿rnes, MD

Universi﻿ty of HawaiiChief Resident

My name is Robert Barnes, but everyone calls me Bobby. I was raised in Phoenix and am a proud Sun Devil. I made it out to Hawaii for medical school and learned to surf (poorly), made great friends, and enjoyed the outdoors. In my spare time I enjoy working on my Chevelle, playing golf, strumming guitar, and spending time with my friends and family. I’m really excited to be a part of the Copa team and look forward to the next three years in Phoenix, despite the oven-like heat.

Lize-Maria Dorfling, MD

University of Kansas

I am a proud African-American female.I grew up in South Africa in a small town in an area known as “die klein karoo”. After high school my family immigrated to America and as fate would have it we ended up in Kentucky. This proved to be quite a culture shock especially since English was my second language. After finishing my undergraduate degree at the University of Kentucky, I decided to go back to South Africa. While in South Africa I worked in Cape Town in the horse racing industry. I was involved in event planning, international exchange programs and helped previously disadvantaged South Africans get an education. After 2 years working in South Africa and enjoying the beautiful wine country, I decided it was time to grow up and pursue a serious career. I returned to Kentucky in order to attend medical school. When the time came to apply for residency I decided I wanted to move south, away from the cold. I immediately fell in love with Arizona when I came for my interview. The people here are amazing and the outdoors spectacular. I could not have asked for a better place to live and work.

Zach Gibson, DO

University of North Texas

Howdy! Believe it or not I hail from a small city called Humble located in the swampy east side of Texas. Yes…Humble, Texas truly exists. After growing up there and then living in the even more humid Veracruz, Mexico for a few years, I came back to H-Town and finished my undergrad. I conned my girlfriend-->wife (from the Rocky Mountains) who was visiting Tx for only 6 months to stick around for 7 years longer than she planned and marry me in the mean time. After med school in Fort Worth we finally left the Lone Star State and traveled to AZ which happens to have a lone star on the flag…go figure. But you know what...we love it here! When I'm not working at the COPA (which is an incredible place to train), I enjoy spending time with the wife and kids, hiking, biking, camping, climbing, skating, and making the all important surf trips to Cali as often as possible. I consider myself fortunate to be on the team and look forward to my next 3 years working here!

Melody Glenn, MD

University of Southern CaliforniaChief Resident

'm from Alabama, but moved away for college and never looked back. During my freshman year, I attended a small liberal arts school in the mountains outside of Asheville, North Carolina. Our campus had a farm and a vegan cafeteria, and about half of the student body had dreadlocks and/or played banjo. I decided that I wanted a little more diversity, and less rain, so when I was offered a scholarship to the University of Arizona, I took it! I fell in love with the bizarre desert art scene and being able to see the milky way almost every night. I majored in Latin American Studies, mainly so I had an legit excuse to study abroad. After college, I moved to Atlanta to start a post-bacc nursing program, which I thought would be a practical gateway into international public health. I was surprised to learn that I actually liked this whole medicine thing. I left nursing school, and eventually moved to Los Angeles to attend medical school at the University of Southern California. During 4th year, I rediscovered my love for playing outside. Even though I liked all the foodie restaurants and eclectic shows that the city offered, I spent almost every weekend trying to get out of LA, and into the nearby mountains or deserts to rock climb, snowboard, or bike. When searching for emergency medicine residencies, I looked for county hospitals with large Spanish-speaking populations that were near excellent outdoor activities, and had fun, friendly residents (and, of course, strong academics and teaching). Maricopa fit that description perfectly!

Whitney Hansen, MD

Medical College of Wisconsin

My name is Whitney Hansen and I am from South Jordan, Utah, just outside of Salt Lake. I grew up playing lots of sports and the piano. I went to college at BYU and got to be on the swim team. That was an awesome experience, but I definitely don't miss working out four hours a day. Right after college I started med school at the Medical College of Wisconsin. I met my husband Kellen while I was in school, and he's pretty much the coolest. When I was doing my OB/Gyn rotation in 3rd year of med school, he would wake up at 5am and scrape my windshields (We didn't have covered parking in Milwaukee, YIKES!) and send me out the door with a hot chocolate. We like biking, hiking, swimming, wakeboarding, and mostly just being outside. We have been loving Arizona and are having a blast exploring the beautiful outdoors here.

Michael Karbasi, MD

University of Arizona

I'm Michael and I was born and raised in Chandler, Az. I went to ASU for my undergraduate degree in Kinesiology before upgrading to the University of Arizona-Phoenix for med school (bear down!) Being a Michael, I grew up a fan of Jackson, Tyson, Jordan and Bolton (just kidding on that one..promise) In my spare time, I'm a hardcore AZ sports fan, love poker and am actively preparing for the zombiepocalypse by watching The Walking Dead. I was drawn to 'Copa by the genuine camaraderie present between the residents and staff as well as the opportunity to help an underserved patient population.

Sarah Kuehnle, MD

St. Louis UniversityChief Resident

I am from Russia. I hate James Bond. The only thing cooler than Vladimir Putin holding a glass of vodka is Babak holding a USB drive.Oh hey! My name is Sarah, and I am from Nellyville/the Lou/St. Louis. I went to both undergrad and med school there and was ready for a change for residency. Why Maricopa? Well I rotated here and absolutely loved the program, people, and patient population. The residents and attendings make you feel like you’re part of a large, mostly functional family. I really enjoy speaking Spanish, and there have been muchos opportunidades for that here. Plus, I was able to brag to my friends in the Midwest about laying out at the pool on Thanksgiving while they were shoveling snow before going in for surgery call. For fun, I like attempting to be outdoorsy, water skiing, karaoke, arts and crafts, and traveling. My favorite place that I’ve ever been was probably the Greek island of Santorini where they have black sand beaches…awesome! I am more than happy to answer any questions you have, so just send me an email! Good luck on your residency search, and definitely come check Copa out!

Hannah Malashock, MD

University of Kansas

Hey everybody! I grew up in the suburbs of Kansas City and surprisingly never went cow tipping. I left for college at Tulane University in New Orleans, followed only a couple days later by Hurricane Katrina. After a brief stint in Jerusalem while things dried out, I returned to New Orleans and got involved in the recovery effort gutting houses every week and volunteering as a medical interpreter for recovery workers. I majored in Latin American Studies and was fortunate enough to spend a year in Brazil and Argentina. I then made my way back home to Kansas City and attended the University of Kansas for medical school. While there I served on the Executive Board of the JayDoc Free Clinic, one of the few autonomous student-run free health clinics in the country. In my free time I like to hike and explore Phoenix with my giant dog companion and hope to engage in recreational animal hoarding in the future. I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to train at the ‘Copa and you should come check us out!

Ranvir Singh, MD

University of Illinois - Rockford

Hey everyone! My name is Ranvir and I grew up in Northern California in a town called Yuba City. I went to college at UC-San Diego and majored in Management Science. I subsequently traded the idyllic climate of Southern California for the freezing winters of the Midwest where I attended the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford. I'm very excited to be at Maricopa for residency and to be in a warm spot. The people here are friendly, helpful, and great to be around. I am a big sports fan and I love the 49ers. I enjoy being active, swimming, running, playing basketball, being outdoors, reading, traveling, and the occasional craft brew. I'm looking forward to spending the next 3 years in Phoenix, getting to know the city, meeting people, and learning a little medicine along the way!

Nicole Mullins, DO

Midwestern UniversityChief Resident

I am a native Oregonian who came to Arizona for medical school, and managed to find & marry a native Phoenician (yes, they are real. Yes, they wear jeans in the summer). I love the sunshine, but my little Oregonian soul purrs when it rains here and I take great pleasure in green things, including growing a variety of them on my patio!! I have lived on three continents, officially studied 4 foreign languages (though claim fluency in only one of them), and have traveled alone while Couchsurfing. I love hiking, biking, red wine, foodie food, organizing (yes, I own a label maker, and no, I don't believe in junk drawers), and curling up reading a good book for so long I risk getting a DVT. I listen to more (talk) radio than I watch t.v., drink more milk than coffee, am more of a morning person than most, have more energy on a night shift than most, and have been accused of being an optimistic energizer bunny on more than one occasion. The easy going, collegial, familial, and work/play hard atmosphere of the 'Copa were a big draw for me, and I am happy to be a part of this got-your-back team!

Addendum on having a baby in residency: challenging but doable.

Sam Yi, DO

Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine

I took too long to respond to the request to have a profile up so now I have to sit here with nothing written about myself until I appease Babak.Born in Korea (please don’t ask if that’s north or south), raised in Dallas, TX with short stints in LA and Boston but I somehow ended up in Phoenix for residency, go figure. I feel truly blessed to be an emergency medicine resident at Maricopa. I believe that no matter what I do, it’s the people that I am with that make all the difference, and here at Maricopa, I am surrounded by some of the most amazing, brilliant, friendly, and supportive people, and for them, I am grateful. During residency I want to see everything that could possibly come through the doors of an emergency department. Okay, I know I won’t see EVERYTHING, but I think at Maricopa, I’ll come close (scorpions, rattlesnakes, and coyotes, oh my!) Outside of the ED I enjoy worshiping at my local church, eating some amazing food, night hiking, taking weekend trips to LA, and catching up on sleep.

Leonard Yontz, MD

Medical College of Georgia

Hello! My name is Leonard, I took a long crazy route (I bet I shoulda turned left at Albuquerque) to medicine, mysteriously ending up at one of the best EM programs around! I grew up all over the Western States, got married really young, managed fast food in SLC somehow ending up in Georgia in ’99 working for a national chain. I found this paid ok, but was REALLY boring. I started working as an EMT for West Georgia Ambulance looking for some excitement and fell in love with EMS. I later quit my good paying food job and eked by as paramedic for a decade. With a lot of encouragement (trickery?) by my friends and family; I started my undergrad in my 30s at University of West Georgia going on to attend the Medical College of Georgia. Over a decade in the Peach state was pretty amazing; great people, incredible friends and wonderful food. Alas through it all, an ever present evil lurked; Humidity! I am a serious fan of the DRY heat. The ‘Copa is about as perfect as it gets, so many awesome people with such different backgrounds and style. Phoenix is an amazing city with nearby access to…Everything! I love it here, I still can’t believe I made it, actually this might be a really long hallucination.So to summarize; I am a recovering Paramed-aholic with a touch of ADD and tendency to babble. I enjoy cooking (especially new and local flavors), hiking, camping, photography, shooting, any board games, good books, and gardening. I have zero television literacy, but other than that I am happy to answer any questions I can, or help in any other way, feel free to send me an email anytime!